The Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan is staging a football tournament from 11-15 June to mark the forthcoming World Refugee Day on 20 June. The tournament is being organised by the UEFA Foundation for Children, the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) and the UNHCR.
The tournament will feature Under-15 male and female teams from the 12 districts of the camp, and the finals will take place on 15 June before the start of Ramadan. On 20 June, the winning male team will take part in a match together with the Jordanian Under-15 male team. The match will take place at Al Sareeh.
Youngsters are being given the opportunity to engage in fun and competitive recreational activities, and the tournament aims to promote interaction and dialogue between young Syrians and Jordanians through football. In addition, tournaments such as this promote, among others, the role of sport and recreational activities in responding to young people’s psychosocial needs, and help reinforce the relationship between the UEFA Foundation and the AFDP with respect to activities at the Za’atari camp.
The event and its message fit perfectly with the message being promoted by the UNHCR this year – Standing Together.
Male and female teams at the Za’atari camp tournament will each comprise ten players. Male teams will be fielding players aged between 13 and 15, and female teams will consist of players between the ages of 10 and 15. All teams registered for the tournament will choose a team name, which will formalise their status within the UEFA Foundation for Children/AFDP Football League at the Za’atari camp.
Every qualifying game in the male tournament will be 15 minutes in length, while the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played over 20 minutes. All of the female tournament matches will last for 15 minutes. The tournament finals on 15 June (both male and female) will played over 20 minutes.
The event on 20 June will take place at night due to Ramadan. The match will be of 2 x 15 minutes’ duration, and each of the two teams will feature a mixture of both Syrian and Jordanian youngsters.